I believe we can help protect Iowa students and teachers from severe budget cuts by limiting the number of public school superintendents to no more than one per county.

We do not have too many schools. We have too many school superintendents. I do not favor consolidating schools, but I am absolutely dedicated to cutting administrative costs. That’s an essential step to helping keep many of Iowa’s fine local schools open.

Superintendents are very expensive. The cost per student for the superintendents at Iowa’s five smallest schools ranges from about $880 per student to $1,790. In contrast, the cost per student for the superintendents at Iowa’s largest five schools is less than $16. Reducing the number of superintendents will save money and protect student achievement from deep budget cuts.

Matt McCoy

There are plenty of reasons to find politicians unattractive, but that’s not true when it comes to Sen. Matt McCoy. This 44-year-old politician and father of one has the state’s best interests in mind, and we find that sexy. Since McCoy took office in 1993, he has displayed the looks and smarts to keep Iowa moving forward — something that Iowans appreciate.

“Matt has an engaging personality coupled with natural charm,” said Jim Ferguson, who is a business partner with McCoy at Resource Development Consultants. “His command of the big picture makes things happen. His work documents that he is a champion of equal human rights, the homeless, the elderly, affordable health care and animal rights.”

Knapp Properties of West Des Moines received the top scores for the right to lease downtown office space to the state, the Iowa Department of Administrative Services said Tuesday.

But at least one Republican lawmaker said the state request for proposals for downtown space needs to be part of a larger discussion about whether state employees should locate in the former Des Moines General Hospital space.

In tough economic times, school districts and local governments can take a lesson from Clayton County.

The Clayton Ridge and Central Community School Districts have agreed to share the services of Superintendent Allan Nelson. The school districts aren't merging. They're just taking advantage of the opportunity for shared leadership at a time when both districts have seen declining enrollment and budget reductions.

The majority leader in the Iowa Senate, Mike Gronstal, D-Council Bluffs, this morning announced his picks for leaders for committees.

Here are the leaders, followed by the committee assignments:

Committees

Agriculture — Sen. Joe Seng of Davenport

Commerce — Sen. Swati Dandekar of Marion

Economic Growth/Rebuild Iowa — Sen. Steve Sodders of State Center

Education — Sen. Herman Quirmbach of Ames

Labor — Sen. Wally Horn of Cedar Rapids

State Government — Sen. Jeff Danielson of Waterloo

Transportation — Sen. Tom Rielly of Oskaloosa

Ways & Means — Sen. Joe Bolkcom of Iowa City

Budget Subcommittees

Agriculture/Natural Resources — Sen. Dennis Black of rural Grinnell

Economic Development — Sen. Bill Dotzler of Waterloo

Education — Sen. Brian Schoenjahn of Arlington

Transportation, Infrastructure, and Capitals — Sen. Matt McCoy of Des Moines

A former Des Moines hospital remains two-thirds empty, nearly a year after the state spent $4.45 million to buy it with the intention of turning it into office space for government workers.

The building was known for decades as Des Moines General Hospital. Legislators agreed to buy it partly because they were told they could save money by using it for state employees now working in rented offices.

For our World AIDS Day 2010 section, we wanted to capture the diversity of the AIDS community. So, we reached out to people across the world -- mostly those who have never written for us before -- and asked them to guest blog. These columns are written by people who are living with HIV, have been affected by HIV, or work in the field.

Who would have guessed that Iowa, of all places, would be in the midst of transformational change in our nation's battle regarding equal rights? On April 3, 2009, when the Iowa Supreme Courts ruled in favor of gay marriage in our great state so many people rejoiced. I was among those who celebrated, took pictures of friends who were able to apply for a marriage license with their partners, and cried like a baby at weddings. The fact that our courts ruled the ban on gay marriage as unconstitutional meant victory not only for civil and LGBT rights, but also for my work at the AIDS Project of Central Iowa, an agency near and dear to my heart since 2001.

Even as he vowed to protect gay rights, Democrats in the Iowa Senate on Sunday chose to keep Sen. Mike Gronstal as their majority leader.

No one mounted a challenge for the leadership role, several senators said after they finished a private two-hour meeting at the Iowa Capitol.

Senate Democrats also voted to keep Sen. Jack Kibbie, D-Emmetsburg, as Senate president.

It was one of the more striking results from last week's elections: three Iowa Supreme Court justices who joined last year's pro-gay-marriage ruling were voted out of office. Opponents of gay marriage celebrated, confident that a miscarriage of justice had been corrected at the ballot box, but they were wrong. The removal of these three judges — all highly respected jurists, appointed by both Republican and Democratic governors — should send a shiver down the spine of anyone who cares about the American system of justice.

In Iowa, supreme court justices are nominated to the bench by the governor in a merit-based system, but the voters get a chance to decide whether to keep them on for their first term and later for any additional terms. In last week's election, voters opted to remove Chief Justice Marsha Ternus, David Baker and Michael Streit. Their ousters marked the first time that an Iowa Supreme Court justice had been removed since the system was put in place in 1962.

The ouster of three Iowa Supreme Court justices created a load of problems Wednesday for state court administrators who have to keep the state judiciary afloat.

Chief Justice Marsha Ternus and Justices Michael Streit and David Baker were booted from the bench Tuesday, largely for their part in the unanimous 2009 ruling that allowed same-sex couples to marry in Iowa.

It was the first time Iowa voters have not retained Supreme Court justices since 1962, when the merit selection and retention system for judges was adopted. When the justices' terms expire on Dec. 31, it will be the first time there have been multiple vacancies on the high court.

The Des Moines man who gained national attention last year for his support of the killer of a Kansas abortion doctor will challenge a 14-year senator in the November election.

Dave Leach, 64, a Republican, has put social issues at the forefront of his campaign against Matt McCoy, 44, a Democrat who is the first openly gay member of the Iowa Legislature. They will compete for the Senate District 31 seat, which McCoy has held since 1996.

For the Des Moines Area Regional Transit Authority (DART), Wednesday’s presentation of a $10 million check felt like scoring a touchdown.

That was the analogy DART General Manager Brad Miller used in his opening remarks to an audience of about 50 people before welcoming a list of big names to the stage, including U.S. Rep. Leonard Boswell, U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin and Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Administrator Peter Rogoff. Martha Willits, president and CEO of the Greater Des Moines Partnership, Des Moines Mayor Frank Cownie and state Sen. Matt McCoy also spoke during the event.

Talk Radio is undeniably one of the most popular radio formats in America today. Years ago, when the public stopped listening to the radio and started engaging it, the dynamics changed, and the medium hasn’t been the same since. Today, talk radio is available anywhere, anytime, and with leading talk show personalities like Rush Limbaugh, Larry King, Howard Stern, Don Imus and former talk show host Dr. Laura Schlessinger, it’s easy to see and hear why this type of entertainment has our ears waning for more.

Just like the aforementioned hosts, Steve Deace, host of “Deace in the Afternoon” has audiences listening, too. The Christian and conservative talk show host and sports fan has a widespread following that tunes in to 1040-WHO Radio while covering a bevy of topics during your drive-time commute.

Construction could start as soon as this fall on a $1 million barrier to separate sex offenders housed at Fort Des Moines from thousands of people who visit the Blank Park Zoo.

The Fort Des Moines community correctional facility, adjacent to the zoo, houses 279 offenders, including 15 sex offenders. Some offenders have already spent time in prison; others are there as a condition of probation.

The Iowa Legislature appropriated $1 million for the barrier earlier this year. That decision came after lawmakers rescinded $18 million in state funding to construct a new correctional facility northeast of Des Moines where the sex offenders were to have been transferred. The spending cut occurred as legislators trimmed an already tight state budget.

Mark Vukovich, the zoo's chief executive officer, said last week the barrier will be included in the design of a $15 million zoo expansion project starting this fall and to be completed in phases through May 2013. The work will include moving the zoo entrance about a quarter-mile north of where it is now.